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The Brooding City: Chapter 5 The Myst of Death

Garrit and Sresika continue their investigations and daily lives in the district. When Garrit returns off shift he discover their normal watering hole, the Hooting Frog was bustling with activity late at night. The previous owner had loaded his belongs into a wagon while several wagons of materials and furniture were being moved in by bronze colored dwarves with red hair. The dwarves were busily giving the new tavern a face lift into a dragon and stone motif. Garrit talked to the previous owner and found him ecstatic of the money offered to him to sell. he and his family plan to leave the city and retire into the country. Garrit’s attempt to talk to the new owner were prevented by the workmen.

Sresika during the day notice people watching her as she made her rounds gathering supplies for her shop. When she tried to catch up to them they disappeared into the crowd. She went and helped her Hafling friend with cleaning her shop and learned the Hooting Frog had been turned into the Red Brick.

Garrit reported to work and finds Lord Roaringhorn, a distinguished lord of the district has paid a visit to the Sub-captain. His home has been burglarized the previous evening and demands the watch do something about it. With the threat of Roaringhorn and from the sub-captain, Garrit returns to the streets and investigates the Roaringhorn break in.

Lord Roaringhorn pays a visit to Thoram, the new proprietor of the Red Brick. To Thorma’s dismay, the Lord likes him and leaves with some of his wine to take home. He reveals to Thoram that he has hired mercenaries to deal with the thefts.

At the Roaringhorn estate, Garrit discovers a hole cut through the floor and through solid stone leading to the sewers below. The hole is too small for a normal size man to fit through. Garrit talks to several rats who reveal some lizard creatures had moved through the area last night.

At night, Garrit, while on patrol, hears the sound of two police whistles;one from the Nobel houses and one from the market. Garrit rides to the house of Lord Hawkwinter and cones across a gruesome site. Witnesses claim a red mist had crept through the walls of the manor of Lord Hawkwinters, killing a guest and a servant, and in the panic Lord Hawkwinter and another guest were trampled to death. Garrit managed to save the butler from dying of his wounds and the man reveals that he saw two armored person arrive and then leave the seen.

Thoram, while closing his shop hears the sound of several creatures running across his tavern’s’ roof. He goies outside just to see several small creatures jumping across the roofs. Their tails give them balance as they leap.

While leaving her friend back after a night of drinking, Sreiska hears the sound of fighting down the streets. She arrives to find a body at the door of the House of Crystal as the sounds of two sets of running footsteps echo in the fog. She bends down at the body and recognizes it as one of the armored strangers that was following her earlier. She also notices some thieves tool abandon in the door of the shop.

Just then, several mounted men in leather and carrying swords appeared. The mercenaries of Lord Roaringhorn had arrived and take the body, claiming it was one of the thieves. They leave Srieska, who heads home. Garrit meets the mercenaries at the apothecary and is told how they the body was found by Srieska. The bodies begin to pile up.

The next day, Garrit visits Srieska and Thorma to try and recruit them for help. He shows the strange holy symbol to Sreska who identifies it as a Holy symbol of Aath, but from an obscure and ancient saint/sect. Sreska also identifies one of the person she had met before at the tavern and following her during the day. The apothecary reveals the corpse met his end by a garrot around the neck.

Garrick spends most his day moving through redtape to try and get old plans of the sewer system. On his return to the district by dusk, the mercenaries bring forth a battered woman who matches the armored person found dead. They reveal that they found her trying to break into the Apothecary. She refuses to speak and just then a police whistle blows and Garrick responds.

Garrick arrives to another shop engulfed in red mist. His men refuse to enter and he dashes inside only to find the red smoke was being produced by a flare. The persons inside describe a small reptillan creature has come into the home and left through the window. Garrick then realize it was all a ruse and quickly heads back to the new captive.

Thoram and Sreiska, armed to join their fellow resistance fighter, hear shouts for help at the Grinning Lion Inn and dash to the call. They discover the upstairs is cover in red mist. Sreiska breaks down the door while Thoram dashes upstairs and sees a large cloud of red mist floating in the room. Red tendrils have grabbed the father of the family draining his blood. Thoram channels his Chill touch into his sword and strikes a tendril but it swishes right through. Sresika grabs the two children clutching their mother and manages to coax her to follow. They escape the Inn, but Thoram still attempts to save the father.

The second swipe with his chill touch channeled axe hit is true, the tendrils drop the father and the cloud moves out of the Inn and flies across the night sky. The two armored fighters then run across the city jumping short walls pursuing the mist.

Garrit questions the Cleric of Myst,Ogla, who tells him that only she can stop the mist from getting stronger. She request to be returned to the Apothecary to see her fellow acoylte. Garrick accepts and they arrive to apothecary only to find the doors smashed. They have found that those bodies that had been slain by the mist have reanimated. Ogla performs a gentle repose on her partner and the two follow thew trail of the zombies.

Ogla reveals to Garrit that she and her partner are Clerics with the swore duty of protecting the Platinum Urn that holds a deadly creature. The Urn was stolen from their sanctuary by Yehn, a kolbold thief. they tracked him down to this district and have been trying to get him. Her partner was slain by Yehn with a garrot. Only she knows the proper ritual to trap the Mist back into the urn.

Sresika and Thoram arrive at the edge of the graveyard and are attacked by the zombies that had escaped the apothecary. Thoram dispatches some with his channeling axe while Srieska uses her cure light spells to melt their flesh. With Garrit and Ogla joining the battle, they defeat the creatures and head into the graveyard to examine the crypts.

The group makes its way through the crypt of Lord Hawkwinter (The crypt that was not magically sealed) where they are ambushed by kolbolds and their leader, Yehn. They manage to slay three before Yen and the others disappeared down small tunnels. The group leave behind Ogla and Garrit’s fleshraker and move through the tunnels, occasionally being attacked by kolbold snipers.

They emerge into another crypt an realize they are in the Lord Roaringhorn’s crypt. They are ambushed by two shadowy forms that strike out with their cold touch. The strength begins to drain from them and in the battle both Sreska and Garrit fall. The badly drained Thoram is saved by the arrival of Ogla who turns the shadows and they flee. But it is too late for Garrit and Sresika.

As the two fade from life their respected gods appear before them. Garrick’s god, Yondalla, appears before him and claims his mission is not yet finished, but he must strive to be more in tune to his happiness. Sreiska’s god however balks at her for being weak and demands she become more like her. When the two awake, they have changed. Srieska has a scar across her face, her dwemer changes and a she speaks in a hissy voice (game mechanics: Sresika is now Lawful Evl). Garrick awakens and finds a new understanding of emotions and nature (Game Mechanics: Garrick is now female). The two however, have crossed the threshold of death and return empowered by their gods…but at what cost.

Following Ogla, the three follow back to the Hawkwinter crypt where she claims a tunnel leads to where the urn must be located. Sreska, sporting a new personality demands the sarcophagus of hawkwinter be plundered. Thorma helps and they discover a body covered in fine weapons and armor. But Brute, the hound of the Lord rises as a ghost from his bones and attacks the group. Thoram cleverly uses detect magic and discovers some of the items in the crypt are magical. He seizes the magical axe in the sarcophagus and joins the battle.

The three manage to defeat the creature and collect the booty. Now fully armed they enter the last passage and find the urn surrounded by a swarm of corpse rats and a ghostly murk guarding the urn. The group attacks and with the fiery bursts of Garrick (Now known as Trixie) and the sword slashes of Srieska and Thorma they defeat the creatures. Ogla performs the ritual and the Urn is secured.

But now the three must venture and hunt down the Kolbold Yehn and his gang to recover the stolen loot.